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My art practice has always been influenced by nostalgia and Buddhist philosophy. Intense feelings of nostalgia have been stimulated by my experience of displacements and relocations in the past twenty years from my rural home village in northeast of Thailand to Bangkok, then Adelaide, Australia, Newcastle, UK and back to Bangkok again. Buddhist philosophy has been recalled for consolation and contemplation on my own thoughts about life and feelings in order to let things go. Some formal composition of my work also associates with Buddhist ideas of harmony.
For my PhD at Northumbria, I have examined the creative notions of nostalgia and explored the desire to retreat from the problems of city life. My creative experiment, which involved the dislocation of my art practice in both urban and rural areas, has produced images of digital collages that synthesized processes of painting and agricultural work. The conclusion to my thesis was reached through an engagement with Proustian reverie, environmental aesthetics, the philosophy of John Dewey, and Theravada Buddhism.
When I returned to Thailand in 2006, I took a full-time lecturing post in Art Education at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. I have continued to work here until today. At our department, our main aim is to produce art teachers and educators. As a full-time lecturer, I have to teach several subjects in all levels—BA, MA and PhD. The main research methodology for art education is very different from our practice-led PhD. It is theoretical by nature. The majority of research projects use a quantitative method as a main component. It took me a couple of years to get use to it. However, when I got a grip on it, I found that the kind of logic, critical analysis and synthesis I learned in the process of my PhD were all relevant. What I have learned in my practice-based PhD, though most of the time not systematically, it is universal enough to adapt to other research disciplines. Now I’m holding a post as head of Art Education department and a director of Master’s Degree program, which I have to examine all master’s degree theses at our department. In the recent years, major universities in Thailand started to have practice-led fine art PhD programmes. I have been invited to be a visiting lecturer as well as an examiner. So it is a good opportunity to use my knowledge and experience more directly and get involved more with fine art research.
For my art practice, it is difficult to be productive while doing a full-time lecturing and managerial work. However I have managed to join a major art project such as "Border Crossing” a collaborative and touring art exhibition in Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, since 2009. I also work on my personal Enlightenment Project, started in 2010, which I turn to contemplate on contemporary city life with Buddhist philosophy. The work I enter for this exhibition is part of the Enlightenment Project. Cannot leave the city, stay in it peacefully!
About Dr Apichart Pholprasert
My art practice has always been influenced by nostalgia and Buddhist philosophy. Intense feelings of nostalgia have been stimulated by my experience of displacements and relocations in the past twenty years from my rural home village in northeast of Thailand to Bangkok, then Adelaide, Australia, Newcastle, UK and back to Bangkok again. Buddhist philosophy has been recalled for consolation and contemplation on my own thoughts about life and feelings in order to let things go. Some formal composition of my work also associates with Buddhist ideas of harmony.
For my PhD at Northumbria, I have examined the creative notions of nostalgia and explored the desire to retreat from the problems of city life. My creative experiment, which involved the dislocation of my art practice in both urban and rural areas, has produced images of digital collages that synthesized processes of painting and agricultural work. The conclusion to my thesis was reached through an engagement with Proustian reverie, environmental aesthetics, the philosophy of John Dewey, and Theravada Buddhism.
When I returned to Thailand in 2006, I took a full-time lecturing post in Art Education at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. I have continued to work here until today. At our department, our main aim is to produce art teachers and educators. As a full-time lecturer, I have to teach several subjects in all levels—BA, MA and PhD. The main research methodology for art education is very different from our practice-led PhD. It is theoretical by nature. The majority of research projects use a quantitative method as a main component. It took me a couple of years to get use to it. However, when I got a grip on it, I found that the kind of logic, critical analysis and synthesis I learned in the process of my PhD were all relevant. What I have learned in my practice-based PhD, though most of the time not systematically, it is universal enough to adapt to other research disciplines. Now I’m holding a post as head of Art Education department and a director of Master’s Degree program, which I have to examine all master’s degree theses at our department. In the recent years, major universities in Thailand started to have practice-led fine art PhD programmes. I have been invited to be a visiting lecturer as well as an examiner. So it is a good opportunity to use my knowledge and experience more directly and get involved more with fine art research.
For my art practice, it is difficult to be productive while doing a full-time lecturing and managerial work. However I have managed to join a major art project such as "Border Crossing” a collaborative and touring art exhibition in Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, since 2009. I also work on my personal Enlightenment Project, started in 2010, which I turn to contemplate on contemporary city life with Buddhist philosophy. The work I enter for this exhibition is part of the Enlightenment Project. Cannot leave the city, stay in it peacefully!
About Dr Apichart Pholprasert
